Yoga Life Newsletter

YOGA LIFE

VOL 03 · ISSUE 07 JULY 2016

IN THIS ISSUE:

Pillars of Power 10 Reasons to Practice The Story of Warrior Pose Best Exercises for Healthy Feet

PILLARS OF POWER:

FIND YOUR FOUNDATION ON + OFF THE MAT In Yoga Life’s upcoming online course, Pillars of Power Yoga, master Baptiste Yoga teacher Leah Cullis will lead an athletic and spiritual immersion into the five core pillars of Baptiste Yoga: drishti, breath, foundation, heat, and flow.

Here, she explains the importance of finding your foundation both on and off the mat.

Being grounded is really important to me. I have a history of worrying, spending too much time up in my head, and moving too quickly, so being in my body is essential for me to live my best life. This also allows me to be able to focus better during the day to maximize my productivity. My practice on the mat is my foundation for feeling centered in my life.

THE FOUNDATION OF A YOGA POSE In Baptiste Yoga, we say the foundation is “hands, feet, core,” or whatever is touching the earth.

The connection to the earth creates the platform for growth. In Mountain Pose (Tadasana), the blueprint for all asanas, we draw strength from the foundation, or earth, up to the core and lift from there. From the core to the floor, we root down. This creates total body integration, or the union of all parts. With total body integration, we start to move with more ease and purpose.

When you build a solid structure from the ground up, stress, imbalance, and rigidity begin to melt away, and you begin to expand in new directions. More structure or more form actually gives access to greater creativity and flow.

YOUR FOUNDATION IN DAILY LIFE The same holds true off the mat. If you’re always struggling to get your UPCOMING WORKSHOPS footing, without a secure foundation, you might constantly feel pulled in different directions. For example, if you’re not sure what you want to be doing for work, it’s Yoga Nidra with Rima easy to feel stuck in your current job.

August 11 | 7-8:30pm | $25 Motivation and purpose in your work Yoga Nidra or “Yogic Sleep” is a state create an outline for you to follow, of deep relaxation with inner awareness. just like eating healthy, nutrientIt draws upon the ancient practice of dense foods serves as a platform for pratyahara, withdrawal of the senses, in feeling good and loving your body.

YOGA AS YOUR FOUNDATION FOR LIFE

which the state of relaxation is reached by turning inwards, away from outer experiences.

For me, making time on the mat for my physical practice is my foundation. If I don’t carve out this essential time for myself, I start forgetting things. I get flighty or even reactive and a little sharp.

Making the time for daily Retrofit Your Down Dog with Jason movement, taking some time to sit quietly and focus on my August 21 | 2-4pm | $40 breath, and eating a proper No matter what your Down Dog has felt diet are the building blocks like in the past, this is your opportunity to get for me to clear my head a fresh perspective. Learn the important body and create a life where I feel mechanics behind this classic posture, practice balanced, where I can “show fun techniques to give you more access to the up” for my students and be key joints, and experience the comfort of your fully aligned with love for my new, safely posed. partner and family.

10 REASONS TO PRACTICE HOT YOGA IN THE SUMMER

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5 Detoxify from your indulgences!

Spend more quality time with yourself!

Warrior I

Calms the mind!

Keep up your regular practice from the winter months.

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8

6

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Practicing hot yoga acclimatizes your body to the warmer temperature.

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You don’t have to wear sunscreen in the hot room!

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Get that beach body!

Limber up!

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Breathe deeply!

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Practicing hot yoga on a regular basis will encourage your to drink more water.

Warrior II

Warrior III

THE STORY OF WARRIOR POSE Virabhadrasana The powerful priest Daksha had a yagna, a ritual sacrifice, but did not invite his youngest daughter Sati and her husband Shiva as Daksha does not approve of Shiva and their marriage. Sati found out and decided to go to the yagna alone. When Sati arrived, she got into an argument with her father.

Sati was fed up with her father and said to him, “Since it was you who gave me this body, I no longer wish to be associated with it.” She entered a yogic meditative trance and her body set on fire and exploded.

Shiva found out about this and was devastated. He yanked a lock of his hair out and beat it into the ground, where up rose a powerful warrior. Shiva named this warrior Virabhadra. Shiva ordered Virabhadra to go to the yagna and kill Daksha and all his guests.

Virabhadra’s first aspect, (Virabhadrasana I) is his arrival, with swords in both hands, thrusting his way up through the earth from below. In his second aspect, (Virabhadrasana II) he sights his opponent, Daksha. And in his third aspect (Virabhadrasana III), moving

swiftly and precisely, he decapitates Daksha with his sword.

Shiva arrives at the yagna and sees the damage that Virabhadra has done. Shiva absorbs Virabhadra back into himself and then transforms into Hara, the ravisher. Filled with sorrow and compassion, Shiva finds Daksha’s head and gives it to a goat and Daksha comes back to life. In the end Sati is reborn.

BEST EXERCISES FOR HEALTHY FEET Summer is a good time to give your hard-working feet some extra love. If you are outdoors doing vigorous activities, your feet may start to ache. Like the rest of your body, the joints of your feet need to be supported by strong, flexible muscles, says Santa Monica, California, physical therapist and yoga therapist Sherry Brourman.

Yet they are often overlooked.

“Feet have a big job; it’s really important that we take care of them,” she says.

Brourman, the author of Walk Yourself Well, suggests you give your feet just as much attention as you give your hips and back.

Yoga can help you develop balanced alignment in your feet, which can pay off with better alignment throughout your body, Brourman says. It can also prevent and heal foot problems such as plantar fasciitis, bunions, and shin splints.

When doing yoga, consciously stretch and engage your feet. Imagine them as “little cars with four wheels,” Brourman suggests. Press firmly into each of the wheels: the base of the big toe, the base of the fifth toe, and the middle of the inner and outer heels.

FEET EXERCISES In addition to yoga, try the following exercises to stretch and heal your feet: Weaving: Helps relieve symptoms of bunions.

Palm Tree: Strengthens ankles and calves.

Weave the fingers of one hand between each of the toes of your opposite foot.

With a firm grip, stretch and massage the toes and the ball of the foot, encouraging mobility and opening space between the toes.

Stand in Mountain Pose, lightly touching a wall with your hands for balance.

Inhaling, lift your heels as high as possible; exhaling, bring them back to earth.

Repeat 5 to 10 times.

Towel Scrunches: Strengthens arches, eases plantar fasciitis.

Squeeze and Flex: Good for restoring flexibility, relieving bunions and hammertoes.

Sit with your feet flat on the ground, knees bent at 90 degrees, with a towel spread under your feet. Scrunch your toes to grab bits of the towel and pull it toward you, inch by inch, so it bunches into your arches.

Sitting in a chair, rest your heels on the floor. Inhale and flex your toes so there is space between all of them.

Exhaling, squeeze your toes in to form a toe fist. Repeat 5 to 10 times.

CLASS ETIQUETTE Please respect others’ practice and adhere to these do’s and don’ts

KARMA CLASS FUNDS We will be donating the funds raised from our Grow Your Yoga 30 Day Challenge to support Big Brother Big Sisters.

Acceptable:

Please Don’t:

✔✔ Sitting still ✔✔ Loud breathing, gasping, sighing ✔✔ Closing your eyes ✔✔ Crying ✔✔ Falling ✔✔ Farting ✔✔ Take your shirt off ✔✔ Dozing off

✘✘ ✘✘ ✘✘ ✘✘ ✘✘ ✘✘

Bring your phone in Chat with your neighbor Not putting away your mat Arrive late or leave early Leer Take photos or videos

QUESTION OF THE MONTH How Is Yoga Different From Stretching or Other Kinds of Fitness?

Unlike stretching or fitness, yoga is more than just physical postures. Patanjali’s eight-fold path illustrates how the physical practice is just one aspect of yoga. Even within the physical practice, yoga is unique because we connect the movement of the body and the fluctuations of the mind to the rhythm of our breath. Connecting the mind, body, and breath helps us to direct our attention inward.

Through this process of inward attention, we learn to recognize our habitual thought patterns without labeling them, judging them, or trying to change them. We become more aware of our experiences from moment to moment. The awareness that we cultivate is what makes yoga a practice, rather than a task or a goal to be completed. Your body will most likely become much more flexible by doing yoga, and so will your mind.

POSES OF THE MONTH

PIGEON Eka Pada Rajakapostana Physical benefits: opens the hip joint, lengthens the hip flexor, stretches the thighs, gluteals and piriformis muscles, extends the groin and psoas Collateral benefits: helps with urinary disorder, stimulates the internal organs, increases hip flexibility, improves posture, alignment, and overall suppleness, lessens or alleviates sciatic pain, diminishes lower back pain and stiffness Emotional benefits: opens up tight hips and releases negative feelings and undesirable energy stored in your system as it is primal reaction to store stress, trauma, fear and anxiety in the hips

SHOULDER STAND FIREFLY

Tittibhasana

Emotional benefits: benefits your nervous system (those suffering from irritation, shortness of temper, nervous breakdown and insomnia are relieved), increases self-confidence

Physical benefits: stretches the inner groins and back torso, strengthens the arms, shoulders and wrists, tones the belly, opens the hips

Collateral benefits: less Strain on the Heart, improved Digestion, stronger Immune System, relieves Common Cold

Collateral benefits: therapeutic for certain lower back pain, indigestion, fatigue, and constipation

Physical benefits: strengthens upper body (neck, upper back and shoulders)

Emotional benefits: improves sense of balance, increase self-confidence

Sarvangasana